


Baby’s First Hydrant

by leovaldez



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Jealousy, M/M, but like... not with the people, rich v poor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-19 16:13:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20660042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leovaldez/pseuds/leovaldez
Summary: Jason was most definitely rich and Leo was most definitely not.





	Baby’s First Hydrant

**Author's Note:**

> thanks red...
> 
> ...my posting is gonna be hella random cause college tours/applications are blowing my mind right now :/.... it's weird knowing my first valgrace fic was in 6th grade and here i am today. thanks for the journey guys. :)

Someone unscrewed the fire hydrant again. Water forcefully gushed out, spraying a few squealing kids and letting the water run down the street. A forgotten neon pink hopscotch game was being washed away, coloring pink streaks across the sidewalk. 

Leo chewed thoughtfully and pointed his burger at them. “Tha use ta be ush.”

“Swalloh,” Piper said through her food. She sat across from him, balancing a dented soda can on one knee and her phone on the other. A bag of McDonalds lay on the step next to her. 

“I said,” Leo rolled his eyes, “That used to be us.”

“Looks like fun,” Jason said, just as one of the younger girls slipped across the concrete and began to scream. Unfortunately, she fell next to the burst of water, so the pressure slammed into her head, causing her to scream more. “Uh, nevermind.” Jason’s eyes went to Leo and Piper with a curious look. “You used to do _that?_ Why didn’t you just go to a pool?”

Something about that gave Leo a bad taste in his mouth. As if he was ashamed about his childhood. It was times like these when he remembered that Jason lived in a penthouse with a personal chef in the Upper East Side, while Leo had grown up with a mother who had four part-time jobs and he’s been wearing the same sneakers for three years. Hmm.

Still, Jason had asked earnestly, because he might’ve been smart but sometimes he didn’t know things like this, so Leo kicked those same sneakers back and forth and drank from his own dented soda can. “It was fun,” he threw out over the rim. Jason perked with interest and glanced back to kids, while Piper snorted. Leo wondered if she was thinking what he was thinking. She had, after all, grown up in the connected house next to his. 

“You could jump in,” Leo suggested with another bite of his burger. He reached over and stole some of Jason’s fries. “We’ll go out tomorrow instead.”

“Where’s the date this time?” Piper asked with a sharp edge laced in. Leo ignored it- he knew why, Jason knew why, and Piper knew why. It wasn’t Leo’s fault who Jason chose. It wasn’t something Leo and Piper ever really fought about either- Leo suspected it had to do with the jealousy of what Jason _represented_ more than Jason himself. “No wait, don’t tell me- Hawaii cruise. Or the Bahamas with Jason’s personal jet.”

“Ha ha,” Leo scowled at her, stomach shifting as Jason laughed good-naturally. “We’re going to see a _movie_, you dick.” He failed to mention that a few days ago they _had_ randomly sprung to see a Broadway show and before _that,_ they drifted through Brooklyn in a weird drug haze that only Jason could have access to. 

“I don’t have a jet,” Jason said. 

“Just five cars.”

“Ooo, sorry to disappoint, but just the one.” To illustrate, Jason patted the hood space in between him and Leo. The sleek BMW bounced up and down under their weight. “I’m not _that_ rich.”

Except he was. Leo’s stomach coiled as he glanced up to his house, watching the cheap shutters bang against the window upstairs, crudely made _ojo de dios_’ twirling in front of the boxy A/C, fuzzy yarn blurring. Piper was leaning against the peeling railing with a dull look on her phone. He held out his soda for Jason to drink. “You want to go play in the hydrant now?”

“Sure,” Jason nodded eagerly. He took the can and hopped off the car. “Anything I should know?”

The pressure hurts the closer you are to the hydrant. The sidewalk feels like lava against the bare soles of feet. Avoid drowning ants. Sometimes there are sharp rocks or glass. It’s fun. There’s literally a sprinkler in the park a few blocks over that’s safer but boring. Leo doesn’t say any of this but instead gives a thinly lipped smile and: “Absolutely nothing. Go get in, cowboy.”

Because it wasn’t fair that Jason could understand nothing of his life and look so innocent and harmless. Leo _loved_ to see that look of joy in his face, had the biggest crush on that smile and crinkling eyes, but something about Jason had always been weird since there was that small divide that existed. Not that Jason ever cared- he always seemed up to going to 5 star restaurants just as much as he was up for a slice of pizza, and he always paid but allowed Leo to pay if he insisted, and he had nothing but nice words spilling out for Leo’s crowded home and tired mama. 

But it _was_ something _Leo_ had in the back of his mind. It wasn’t there all the time, but the biting little horned monster of jealousy and resentment came every so often when he remembered _he_ was the prodigious scholarship kid without thirty million pairs of sneakers, or the fact that Jason had never taken the subway before dating Leo, or that he’s been cycling through all the worn-out clothes of his older brothers. They weren’t major screams of poverty because he wasn’t poor (like, _poor _poor)- Leo’s never seen a food stamp, and bills were paid (relatively) on time, but it was _something_ Leo didn’t like to address. 

Disappearing into those neat uniforms at school, blending in with those kids… Leo felt like two different people. He’s never said it out loud but he felt _fake_. He could remember the extreme anxiety he had felt bringing Jason home for the first time. It was a million times worse going to Jason’s house. His dad had been scary and his sister was a stereotype. Nothing like the comfortable house and the loud shared bedrooms he was used to. 

“Just run in,” Leo set his jaw. “Don’t worry about looking stupid.”

“Don’t fall!” Piper called out.

“Come with me,” Jason pleaded, grabbing Leo’s hands and pulling him off the car. He threw his glasses on the steps by Piper and waved to her too. “It’ll be fun.”

“Baby’s first hydrant,” Leo smiled, amused. Down the block, a train thundered from above. “You should hurry up before the water starts to trickle.” The kids who were playing had introduced water balloons to their game, with a grandma going back and forth between nodding off and watching them. The girl who had previously sobbing was now cartwheeling with pride, a red smudge against her tanned knee. “I’ll push you in and then that’s it. It took me forever to do my hair.”

“Let me see,” Jason ran his fingers through Leo’s hair, scratched his calp a few times and pulled outward. “It’s messy now. So there’s no excuses.”

“Go on,” Piper said from her phone. “Go on you crazy kids. No funny business in the water though.” She wagged her finger at them with an eyebrow wiggle.

Jason found that funny. Leo did not, as he blew a raspberry at her. He then followed Jason into the water, allowing his clothes to soak through, and hearing Jason shriek from the chill. 

Jason jumped out, laughing, looks surprised at his wet shirt as if he _didn’t_ know that water + clothes = wet. His t-shirt stuck to a broad chest and carefully crafted biceps. He laughed, grabbed Leo’s hand and ran around with glee. Leo couldn’t do much besides be dragged around but soon enough, the giggles started to bubble out of him until he couldn’t help cackling as he danced around the kids pelting him with water balloons and Jason slipping a million times. 

“The ice cream truck is coming,” Jason pulled Leo to the side. He was grinning so widely, that he shined. Leo kissed him as hard as he could. “-What was that for?”

“Nothing,” Leo pushed his wet hair out of his face. “You can’t even see me right now.”

“Can’t see a thing,” Jason’s warm hands squeezed Leo’s hands. “Let’s get some ice cream and run in again. This was fun.”

“Sure.”

Jason squeezed his hand again. “I like hanging out with you. Coming to your house is always fun.”

“_Okay_, Mr. I-live-in-a-building-with-a-doorman-and-a-giant-chandelier.”

“I’m _serious!_ Your house is,” Jason’s smile grew bigger, “_warm._ Fun. Your family is awesome, and every time I come here it’s different. Like, I’ve never played Jenga until I met you!”

“That’s because your dad hates fun and Thalia is too busy dying her hair and going to concerts.” 

“_Possibly_,” Jason knew Leo was right. “But I love being here. I love being with _you_.”

They’ve only been dating for about five months now. Leo’s jealousy slid back into its corner of his mind, his only thoughts focusing on Jason and how cold he was now. “Right,” he murmured, and the two of them walked back up the block towards Piper. “Let’s get that ice cream.”

**Author's Note:**

> have a good day! :) tell me ur thoughts if u have any lol


End file.
